MEIT employee chosen as a fellow at NASA JSC

Deputy International Space Station (ISS) Acoustics System Manager for the JSC Acoustics Office and MEIT employee, Holly Smith, has been named a fellow of the Human Health and Performance Contract (HHPC) contract Fellows Program. The program recognizes roughly 1% of its workforce that has a record of sustained innovative solutions that benefit human spaceflight.

Serving in this coveted position, fellows are allowed to dedicate a portion of their time towards developing a project or focus area that closes a current knowledge gap in their area of expertise and translates this research into meaningful recommendations for human spaceflight missions.

“I celebrated my 10-year anniversary with MEIT and the JSC Acoustics Office this past March, and over the course of my career, I have collected quite a lot of questions that I wish I could have explored in depth if I only had the time,” stated Smith. “This fellowship allows me the opportunity to explore these questions and potential solutions in depth.”

Smith is particularly interested in performing a deep dive of the extensive acoustic data collection that the NASA acoustics office has collected over the history of the ISS and identifying trends and lessons learned that can be applied to future missions. She is also interested in exploring the gaps in NASA’s understanding regarding the psychological effects of acoustic environments during long-term exploration missions and the auditory impacts due to long-term exposure of microgravity and reduced environmental pressure.

Smith took the time to express her thanks.

“I am very thankful for the amazing support and encouragement that I receive from MEIT, HHPC, and NASA management,” she shared. “I am also extremely grateful to my husband and family who have continually cheered me on these past ten years. As a native East Texan, I am very blessed to contribute to NASA’s mission in a place that I call home.”

MEIT congratulates her and looks forward to the great things she will accomplish through the HHPC fellowship program!

Photo caption: MEIT employee, Holly Smith, among top 1% to be named a human and health performance fellow at NASA JSC.